Ol-timer and modern bikes: pure pleasure?

OK, so some people sneer at the sort of 1970s crap I like, and I sneer
at the 1960s crap, and...

"I look down on him because...."

But I reckon that every generation of bikers gets the same thrill. Do
you thik that the Bonnie riders of the 1960s, or Lawrence of Arabia 30
years before, on his Brough, thought: "****, this is an old nail..."?

I reckon they didn't. because they were on the best of the era, and were
having fun.

So a question for the house. What are the best fun bikes you've ever
owned, irreespective of age or decrepitude? The bikes, not the riders,
that is.

Not the best, the fastest, the most economical, but just the ones that
always made you grin.

For me, in no particular order:

Yamaha XS650, Ducati 750SS, Yamaha RD350F2, Triumph Street Triple,
Yamaha XT600E

 

Again, in no particular order.

750SS, TRX850, GSX250, my first Divvy 600. An honourable mention for my
CBX750, as it was the bike which got me back into bikes after a few
years out.

 

In order: the Fantic. Err, that's it.

Plenty of others have made me grin lots of the time, but the Fantic's
just pure lunacy. It's crap in almost every respect, but I'm always
scared to open the throttle[1], & that makes it huge amounts of fun.

[1] Last time I rode it, about 4 weeks ago, I wasn't /quite/ careful
enough accelerating in 3rd gear, down a hill, & the fucker nearly had
me off the back.

 

In communiqué <1j54lwn.15poxr21l7j95mN%>,

Not hard to guess. Morinis - particularly the 375 in a 250 frame
special. First class grin factor.

Gilera Nordwest. As MCN said at the time - stomptroopers.- BTW WUN I
really do want to part with both of them. Email me if interested - much
cheapness.

Gilera GFRs - real pocket rockets. Twice the fun at half the speed. Nose
buried behind the screen redlining it in every gear. I'm keeping those
until the lad is old enough to ride one and so, hopefully, I will still.

I see that covers nearly everything in my sig except the tart, and yes
that always makes me grin. Looking forward to the Manx on it again.

Of those bikes that I no longer own - it would be the Saturno with
Nordwest motor and the Guzzi Mille outfit. Various Triumphs and AMC
twins failed to evoke true grinnage. A Matchless with a genuine
all-alloy competition 500 single motor was memorable for the right
reasons thouh.

--
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest * 2 Yamaha WR250Z |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Well.... The best has to be the totally knackered pre-legal Bantam in
the late 1950s, much teenage foolishness.

Followed by my first "proper" bike, a Notrun Dominator which was the
bees knees the sixties.

Then I grew up a bit and life becomes more jaded.

 

60's Triumph Bonneville. BSA A7. BSA A65. ZXR750H1. Triumph Daytona 675

 

I reckon they didn't, because the Bonnie riders of the 1960s could only
dream of riding something as modern as a 1930s Brough.

1990 MT5
1993 TZR125
2001 ZXR400
1999 GSF1200N
1996 ZX7R
1996 RGV250
2004 GSXR750
2004 GSXR1000

If you're paying attention, you may notice there's only one bike I've
owned that isn't on the list and even that had its moments, though
mostly caused by its inadequacy rather than anything positive.

 

Honda k-reg PF50 Graduate ridden round and round the back garden at age
13.

 

In no particular order

Beckett proddy-tuned RD400 I owned at 18 (written off after I sold it)
Honda XR400R (company bike, whereabouts now unknown)
GSXR1000 K1 (ex-Hog)
RD350F2 (now in the hands of an ex-ukrmer)
CBR600FW (ex-Blaney)

 

TL100S.
Ex police Triumph T120, 1970's.
RD250B.
Thunderace, twice.

 

Heh have a look at ebay item 170372849963

If I didn't have a shattered arm I think I would have weakened

 

Not keen on the gash paintjob, rest of it seems nice enough.

 

Paint is easily changed. The bike is worth no more than 2.5 but oh those
parts!

 

SteveH posted:

I haven't had many bikes, but my old Bandit 600 (which passed from
this world 6 years ago yesterday[1]) just felt *right*. I was so
confident throwing that bike around (within what I felt my limits to
be), it was like an extension of my body. Although I love my B12 (in
as much as one can love a machine, automaphilia freaks can **** off
right now), it doesn't feel as right as the old 600 did.

[1] R480 ORM. Apparently someone bought the wreckage and rebuilt it,
but it was written off in my ownership, so it's dead.

 

The Bandit 1200 always made me smile. It looked great (before being
crashed twice), sounded great, and did great wheelies.

 

Clearly, I missed a meeting. What have you done to yourself?

 

He forgot to change hands after 9,999 (he's getting on a bit now).

 

snip>

I'd find it easier to list bikes I've owned and detested but I'll
reduce the ones that made me grin to two (in no particular order):

My old Yamaha XS2 and the current Kawasaki ZX10R.

I'll happily admit that the Yam was the first bike to scare me and the
10R the most recent.

 

All of them.

 

XT500 - my first big bike, when I was 17. Great wheelie machine,
really pretty damn good on road and great fun off. Got dropped more
times than I remember, breaking most, if not all, of the
rubber-mounted indicators. Vibrated the rear light mounting clean
through the rear mudguard. The only bike I _reall_ wish I still had
today.

Maybe I should get another one...